Wednesday, September 21, 2011

How To Do High-Quality 3D Bone Model Printing On The Cheap



Again form the MEDGadget blog.
Enjoy !


How To Do High-Quality 3D Bone Model Printing On The Cheap:

Orthopedic and maxillofacial surgeons sometimes prepare for surgery by creating physical models of 3D scans of bones that they need to work on. Such models are also useful in educating med school students, doctors, and patients. However, these models tend to be very expensive, usually seen only in well-funded research projects or used by expensive medical professionals. Oftentimes, because the cost of the model is so high, a compromise must be made, so the resulting models end up being truncated or less than actual size.


Shapeways, a company that prints custom-designed 3D models, published a blog post about how Max Frame, an orthopedic surgeon at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, Scotland, managed to produce a full-size human pelvis for about $230, less than one-fifth the cost of a smaller, professionally made model.




He accomplished this by taking CT scans and importing them into two programs, one to fill in any gaps and eliminate any artifacts on the CT scan and the other to create a 3D surface render that Shapeways can read. After being sent to Shapeways, it took less than a week for Max to receive the models. According to Max, the models were verified and shown to be virtually identical to the bones in the CT scan. Moreover, the white plastic that composed the models proved to be a great bone analog in which to practice using regular orthopedic drills, screws, and saws.


Blog entry from Shapeways: 3D Printing Bone on a budget!




Thursday, September 15, 2011

Medtronic launches Artisan System for Bone Graft Protection In Oral-Maxillofacial Surgery


From the MedGadget Blog !
I am not aware if this has been released in India but it seems awesome !


Medtronic launches Artisan System for Bone Graft Protection In Oral-Maxillofacial Surgery:

Bone grafting is the use of either native, cadaveric, or artifical bone pieces to fill a void where you would like new bone to grow. Often at first, bone grafts have poor structural qualities and need hardware to protect them, the bone around and to keep them in place. In Oral-Maxillofacial surgery bone loss is often caused by infection, trauma, tumors and other conditions.


Medtronic has announced the launch of its Artisan space maintenance system which is a set of a customizable titanium mesh, special screws for mesh fixation, as well as socket screws. The mesh is specifically designed for the protection of bone graft and has unique handling and structural properties for this purpose. The socket screws in particular are being marketed as ground breaking since the umbrella-shaped screw design allows for the protection of bone graft while eliminating the need to lift a second flap for the removal of the screw.


Press release: Medtronic Announces Launch of ARTISAN™ Space Maintenance System